Well I thought this would be covered already but since everyone is busy covering the BA incident, I thought I would fill you in. Yesterday, EK started to sell tickets for their A380 Launch flight to New York online... and guess what!!! First Class Tickets, sold out in a couple of hours!!!!

Quoting KC135TopBoom (Reply 2):That seems like a lot of empty seats, after the uniquness of the WhaleJet wheres off.

You might also like to point out that they will have to start selling these tickets at bargain prices too like the rest of the aviation world to USA these days. I'm surprised they don't use the A380 on more profitable routes.

Does anybody know the approximate date of when EK is supposed to put the Whalejet on DXB-JFK? Will it likely be the late morning or late night departure from JFK?
I can't wait to see what type of product EK puts on their A380's. I do know that the A380's EK will use on more premium routes such as DXB-JFK and DXB-LHR will not be nearly as high-density as the ones on the DXB-India and Pakistan routes. If I'm not mistaken, I believe they're configured for a little less than 500 passengers, compared to 380 pax on the 3-class 77W EK flies on DXB-JFK.
I believe the route currently has something like 1,018 seats on it, including the A345 that stops in Hamburg (which will soon be dropped, than the route will have 760 seats until the A380 comes in). I do know DXB-JFK is a very profitable route for Emirates.

Quoting EK156 (Thread starter):Yesterday, EK started to sell tickets for their A380 Launch flight to New York online... and guess what!!! First Class Tickets, sold out in a couple of hours!!!!

What exactly does this mean? I think you are hyping it beyond belief.

How many seats are there in first class? 12? How many seats did Emirates reserve for themselves or dignitaries for the inaugural flight? The majority? Likely they only sold a few seats to claim sold-out status.

As others said, that sounds really cheap. I assume it's 1 way, but still, I'd expect them to charge more for the first flight.

Quoting VinnieWinnie (Reply 5):PR stunt or real high demand? First to fly an A380 to JFK will attract a lot of local interest in NY!

I think it will get some buzz, but frankly, why should it be covered more? The first commercial flight of a particular plane in the world is one thing. The first commercial flight by a particular airline? Why is that such big, international news?

first class sold out? well, it is an inaugural flight. Usually some of the top managers (CEO, CFO, Chief Pilot) plus media people sit up front...... it doesnt mean that the F-Class cabin is full with paying passengers.....